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Generally, pre-releases of Apple's operating systems are only available for developers so that they can get their applications ready for the new operating system and continue with their sales in the App Store or Mac App Store. In addition to testing their own applications, developers are also asked to focus use on certain aspects of the operating system to aid Apple in fixing bugs. The downloads are seeded to developers from the developer section of Apple's Web site.

For the first time ever, Apple is reaching out to its retail store employees to have them testing the latest version of the upcoming OS X operating system – Mountain Lion. It seems Apple is rushing to get OS X Mountain Lion out the door on a timely fashion, and therefore needs as much testing as possible crammed into a tight window of time. By offering Apple’s retail store employees a free test copy of the operating system, the company hopes to have at least most of the bugs hammered out to have as stable as a public release as possible.

Citing 9to5Mac on the matter, the release being given to the retail store employees is not a Golden Master version. In fact, it’s near-release build and retail employees are being asked to install it on their personal Mac computers.

OS X Mountain Lion will be hitting the Mac App Store next month (July) and upgrading will cost $19.99 from either Snow Leopard or Lion. The operating system will bring a ton of new features to the Mac platform including a lot of iOS-like functionality such as Notification Center, Reminders, and Game Center that will help make all of the devices operate at the same level.

With what seems like a rushed testing process, it may be wise to hold off a few weeks for the update to see if everything goes well after the public release.

What goes up must come down. When the next new companies cool gadgets win over the masses, apple will reason with the smaller local stores. But it will be to late because they will be happily selling the next new companies cool gadgets and hopefully taking better care of them